The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth

Xavier has his first tooth, well actually teeth! His two bottom teeth are growing in at the same time! They finally broke through the gums on Wednesday, after a lot of pain and suffering. Now, the big question remains: Will he or won't he??? Bite me that is, while breastfeeding.
Emma had her first 4 teeth come in at 4 months old, she had 8 by 8 months and all her baby teeth pretty much by the time she was a year old. I breastfed Emma until she was 15 months old and never bit me, not even once. Will Xavier be the same? Hmmm, somehow, I don't think so..
Since we're talking about teeth, it should also be noteworthy to mention that Emma has all four 2 year mollars, giving her a complete set of baby teeth! Hooray!
Xavier has been experimenting with different foods. So far he's had:

• Rice, Barley and Oatmeal cereals
• Carrots and Sweet Potatoes
• Peaches

The look on his face when he first tried peaches yesterday was hilarious! His favourites so far seem to be the rice cereal and carrots.

Emma was sick earlier this week. We were out at "Bebe, parents et gazouillements" when Emma had a bout of diarhea. We came home where she threw up once and had one more messy diaper. A little bit of tylenol, pedialyte in popsicle form and gingerale seemed to the trick to get her back on track.
Yesteday she had a little accident in the backyard where she scraped the palm of her hand. It's not a bad "booboo", but it's one of her on personal worst, so it's causing her a little stress. Otherwise, she's fine.

The business of the stinky pee, by the way, is not quite finished yet. Xavier is needing to go to Children's Hospital on Monday to have a VCUG. I can't remember what the letters individual stand for anymore, however, it is a special kind of X-Ray. Basically they insert a cath tube into the poor little guy's penis. Through the tube they insert a dye to see if it goes all the way up to his kidney's, which would be a bad thing. They take X-Ray's to be able to see. Hopefully everything will go well.

On another note, Sebastien did not end up getting his surgery a few weeks back, apparently there was too much potassium in his system. The cause of his bleeding is still a mystery. Looks like Jasmina and little Sebastien will be in Toronto for a long time still.

Birthday party, first air course

On Saturday the kids had the pleasure to attend the first birthday party of one of their own friends. It was really nice, the party was outside. It's funny though, my kids were the only ones wearing wide brimmed hats, long pants and long sleeves. These mothers probably thought I was crazy or over protective, but that don't bother me. All in all, however, the kids had a great time, especially Emma of course.
Yesterday, I needed to re-certify myself in first aid (for work). Which meant I would be away from home ALL DAY. Luckily Polo Park shopping centre is across the street from St-John's Ambulance, so I was able to meet up with Richard and the kids so I could breastfeed little man.
The course was alright, you know, same old same old. A few changes to CPR, but overall the same. They didn't touch on infant CPR at all or infant related injuries, so I may take another first aid course specifically for this.
Xavier seemed to survive being seperated from me, however, by the end of the day he was getting antsy and tired of me playing what seemed to be a very long game of peek-a-bood.

This, that and everything - part deux

I just wanted to post some random things that I have either discovered or have been able to do since becoming a mom:

• slip on shoes are the best invention ever! They even come in cute fashionable styles. They are very useful when you have your hands full with baby, diaper bag, toddler, keys etc....
• telling a todler (who is running down the street, mall etc..) to stop running doesn't work, all they hear is the word "run". I find using please walk works much better
• there's nothing better than waking up in the morning to smiles, coos and HI MAMAN!!!
• being really sick (like when I had strep throat a few weeks back) is a totally different animal when you have little kids
• taking a bath or shower ALONE means being very sneaky when you have a toddler
• the simplest little gesture (like sitting on the floor) can make a toddler very happy
• Grandparents are the best thing since sliced bread
• never leave the house without the sippy cup
• you need to let criticism (especially from people who don't know you or don't even have their own children) go in one ear and out the other

That's all I can think of this morning, but I'm sure there are 100's of other comments I could put here!!

This, that and everything

I just wanted to post some random things that I have either discovered or have been able to do since becoming a mom:

• work on the computer with 1 or 2 children on my lap
• work on the computer with a sleeping or breastfeeding child on my lap
• go to the bathroom while still having baby in my arms (sometimes you just have to go!)
• get dressed while still having baby in my arms (takes a lot of coordination and extra time)
• get older child dressed while breastfeeding
• getting out of the house (on my own) with both kids dressed, fed, and diaper bag (with nothing missing) and still arrive at our destination on time or early. (I surprise myself on this one many times, the key is to be organised, which is easier said than done)
• get breakfast, lunch and dinner accomplished on time for everybody (a little more complicated now that Xavier has just started solids, can't wait until he can eat what everybody else is eating). This is especially true when Richard is working his 24+ hour shifts
• getting two kids down for a nap AT THE SAME TIME. (this one doesn't always happen)
• being able to discipline Emma without punishing her. (this one is a bit controversial, as some people are totally agains corporal punishment and others are the complete opposite. Some people also think that discipline and punishment are the same thing. Here is how I define them. Punishment = using fear and intimidation, corporal punishment like spanking. In my own personal opinion, the child learns they can get in big trouble if they do something wrong, so they try to hide what they've done and don't really learn a lesson. They lose their safe place to fall back on, they lose confidence in themselves and have a higher tendency to rebel. Discipline = teaching a child that there are consequences to their actions while giving a lesson, using techniques like time outs. Time outs really do work and make your house a much happier place to be. All kids deserve a soft place to land and should not be afraid of their own home. Stepping off my soap box now.)

There is much more to write, but the baby alarm is sounding, need to get him from his nap.

hmmmmm yummy cereal

It's official! Xavier has been eating cereal for 1.5 weeks and he's loving it! So far he's eating rice cereal and oatmeal. This week he will try barley. He's already having breakfast and supper, we will probably start giving him lunch as well. This boy definitely has an appetite. The supper meal is actually helping Xavier sleep better at night. It never made a difference with Emma, but Xavier's a big guy, his body was obviously wanting more sustenance. It does make the breastfeeding less frequent, but that's just natural. However, I do enjoy our time together more.

Happy Mother's Day!!

I just wanted to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the mommy's young and old out there today!
Bonne fete des meres! Feliz dia de la madre!

From la Familia Zet-Girouard :-)

Walk with L'Arche and other stuff

On Sunday we had the Walk with L'Arche, and again we were the top team! Woohoo! Xavier, I believe was the third highest fundraiser, not bad for an almost 6 months old baby.
The day was snowy, if you can believed it, but it was one of those light rainy type snows that never stays. By halfway through the day, the sun was started to poke through. All in all a good day.
Now I have strep-throat, not sure if that's how you spell it, but that's how you say it. I'm feeling generally crappy with, of course, a sore throat. Luckily Richard didn't have to work until Wednesday, so I was able to go to my doctor's (with only the breastfeeding fiend accompanying me) and get as much rest as I could on Tuesday. I did get some momentary interruptions from the little man for his food and Emma came to visit every once in a while.
I am on penicillin, which is excreted in breastmilk, but as Xavier's pediatrician says, I would rather him have a little penicillin in his system than have strep throat!

an email from Jasmina...

"Hello to our dear Friends! I am sending you this e-mail to ask for your prayers for our dear Sebastien as he has a few quiet complex test coming up and we need your support of your powerfull prayers :) Sebastien as you know has ongoing bleeding issues since Jannuary and the medical team has been very supportive in investigating with all their test that they could offer that are not invasive.... well we need to look at a more invasive test and leading up to this day May 13 th we are having multiple tests sooooo please pray for our amazing boy that God will give him strenght and comfort and to guide the hands of the Doctors and Nurses to find the source of his bleed and fix it and that those bleeds are stopped and a speedy recovery for our little monkey that he can eat what ever he wants and run around after his ball :) The team is also preparing to hopefully close at the same time on May 13 th his Ostomy sooooooooooooo yuppppppppppeee..... that will be sooooooo awesome..... maybe please say a little prayer for his parents to as it is a quiete nervose time leading up to it and the day.... thank you sooooo much and thank you for all your prayers..... I know deep down in my heart he will be surrounded by soo much love and prayer during his surgery.... xoxoxoxxooxoxoxo With Love and Prayers xoxoxoxxoxox Jasmina xoxoxoxxoo"

Busy week!

We've been keeping ourselves very busy this week. On Monday we had a scrumptious lunch at Olive Garden. After lunch we went grocery shopping, which is always an adventure with two kids! One definitely is a lot less work, but I don't regret having two precious little jewels.
Tuesday was our usual Bebes, Parents et Gazouillements and visit with Memere.
Wednesday there was "Le Grand Rassemblement Prescholaire" at the Children's Musuem. Le Centre de la Petite Enfance had rented the whole place for the morning. For $5 per person (over the age of 2 years), we had full access of the whole museum, plus there were arts and crafts sections, Mago le magicien and a concert by Jacques Chenier. It was really a lot of fun. Emma had a blast, Xavier fell asleep half way through (Thank God). Once we got home, Emma passed out on the couch for 2 hours! In the evening we were still able to make it to our Families Connecting class, although Emma was a little clingy and did not want to go into the daycare.
On Thursday, we had another busy day. In the morning, we had our usual L'Heure du Conte, afterward we met up with Papa at Home Depot to pick up some supplies to build a deck in the backyard. After having some lunch (soup & sandwich) we went to visit Pascale who just had surgery. Later on in the afternoon, we went to visit with Julie and Liam before going to meet up with Gisele at Montana's. Montana's by the way is not what you would call the most veggie friendly, however, I did have a really nice veggie and feta burger. Not to mention a nice visit with Gisele. For those who don't know, Gisele plays the double bass with an orchestra in Germany, she was invited by the WSO to come play "The One Ring" and another concert this weekend. So that said, yesterday was a very busy day.
Today we had "Toi, moi et la Mere L'Oie". Emma, I'm happy to say, is starting to break out of her shell and really enjoy the songs and stories, as well as making FRIENDS! We had lunch with Memere before going to get some money from Nicole to drop off at the office for the walk.
Oh yeah, The Casera Credit Union Walk with L'Arche and Party Celebration is happening this Sunday. X-Man's Crew is looking good.
What's not looking good right now, unfortunately, is Sebastien. Apparently Sebastien was really sick all week and the still have not found the source of his bleeding. It sounds as though that the doctors have no choice but to open him up again. Luckily Jasmina is not alone, as David flew in earlier this week. Looks like Toronto and Sick Kids will continue to be Sebastien's home. Let's keep this brave little guy in all our prayers